According to new research presented at this year’s European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Maastricht, Netherlands (4-7 May), obesity rates in Danish adults have tripled over the last 34 years, rising from 6% in 1987 to over 18% in 2021.
Dr. Stine Schramm of the University of Southern Denmark in Copenhagen conducted the study, which emphasizes the need for coordinated population-wide action to reverse this trend and the high level of social inequality in obesity.
Obesity (BMI 30 kg/m2 or higher) has become more common among adults in Denmark in recent decades, but it is unclear whether this increase has been driven by age, period, or cohort effects.
To learn more, researchers examined data from 91,684 participants who had their height and weight measured as part of the Danish Health and Morbidity Studies—representative surveys of the adult population (aged 16 and older) conducted in 1987, 1994, 2000, 2005, 2010, 2013, 2017, and 2021.
Obesity prevalence increased from 6% in 1987 to over 18% in 2021, with a similar pattern in men (19%) and women (18%) and across all age groups, according to the analyses. Obesity prevalence increased with age until the age group of 65-74 years when it began to decline.
Furthermore, a strong period effect with a linear trend was discovered, with the risk of obesity increasing continuously with each recent survey year. Only a minor portion (14%) of the increase in obesity prevalence could be attributed to changes in the Danish population’s age distribution, and no birth cohorts were found to be at higher risk of obesity.
“We know that there are significant disparities in obesity across Denmark,” Dr. Schramm says. “Previous research has shown that the proportion of obese Danish adults with a low level of education (elementary school, 27 percent) is nearly three times higher than those with the highest level of education (undergraduate degree or higher; 10 percent ). There is also mounting evidence that adult health and disease, including BMI trajectories, are established in childhood. More research, however, is required to understand how early life exposures, such as psychosocial stress, play a role in this. The mechanisms underlying the rising obesity prevalence are far more complex than diet and physical activity.”
Although the study cannot draw conclusions about cause and effect, the authors claim that their findings support the idea that long-term trends in obesity are important determinants.
